American English vs British English // Americanism

 

It is not a matter of surprise that the poem of Robert Frost , an American poet, is fairly intelligible to the persons whose mother tongue is British English . On the other hand, Virginia Woolf  finds easy access to the reading public of America . Basically American English does not differ from British English ,Both are , in ultimate analysis , English . One thing, English , American or British , is quite a current coin on either part of the Atlantic .American English has a number of peculiarities which virtually lead to what is called Americanism . The peculiarities may be discussed under four heads : pronunciation , spelling , vocabulary and idiom and usage. 

 

Pronunciation : To some cases the Americans pronounce some letters and words in different ways from the Britishers do . In American English / t / is pronounced like / d / . Hence the words like ‘got’ , ‘get’ , ‘hat’ , ‘matter’ , etc. are so pronounced in America that they sound like ‘god’, ‘ ged’ , ‘had’, and ‘madder’ respectively . The words like ‘not’ , ‘hot’ , ‘lot’ etc. are so uttered in America that they sound like ‘nawt’ , ‘hawt’  and ‘lawt’  respectively . In British English / r / remains silent when followed by a consonant sound .  But an American always articulates / r /  whether it is followed by consonant or vowel sound .

Spelling : American English tries to bring about the simplification in spelling . American English seems to be more liberal and logical with regard to the simplification of spelling  . So , the words like 'honour' , 'labour' and 'colour' become 'honor' , 'labor' and 'color'  respectively in American English . Besides ,  the words like ‘theatre’ , ‘centre’, ‘fibre’, are spelt as ‘theater’ ,  ‘center’  and ‘fiber’ respectively in American English . Next  , the words ending with '-ce'  in British English becomes the words ending with  '-se' in American English . Naturally the words like ‘defence’  and ‘offence’ become ‘defense’ and ‘offense’ in American English . It is seen that some redundant letters are dropped in American English and for this the British words 'waggon' , 'programme' etc. become 'wagon' and 'program' in American English.

Vocabulary : The vocabulary in American English makes a good deal of peculiarity . It contains a number of words which exclusively confined in America and those words are seldom used in British English . As example we may refer to the words ‘moose’ ,  ‘opossum’  ,  ‘hickory’ etc.  We find the difference of sense in some words used in America  . ‘Bug’ in America means ‘any kind of insect’ . ‘Clerk’  , ‘solicitor’ and ‘lumber’  in America denote  ‘shopman’ , ‘salesman’ and ‘timber’ respectively . It is seen  that the American people prefer ‘apartment’  to  ‘flat’ ,  ‘baby-carriage’  to  ‘perambulator’ ,  ‘can’  to  ‘tin’ ,  ‘movie’  to  ‘cinema’ ,  ‘trunk’  to ‘lorry’  ,  ‘baggage’  to  ‘luggage’ and so on .

Idiom and Usage : We find some difference in the field of idiom and usage in American English and British English . The group verbs like ‘catch on’ , ‘fall for’  ,  ‘go in for’  ,  ‘go back upon’  ,  ‘put across’ etc.  smack of Americanism . The idiomatic phrases like ‘delivers the goods’  ,  ‘bury the hatchet’  ,  ‘go the whole hog’  etc. owe their origin to America . In America a simple past is often used in place of present perfect tense  . So , ‘I have finished the work’  is usually replaced by  ‘I finished the work’  . Moreover , ‘have’ is often used as a principal verb in America . Last but not least , the way of using ‘just’  as a substitute for  ‘only’  or  ‘simply’  is also an instance of Americanism . 

Ref: University Study Guide

Features of Indian English and its difference with the Standard British English

The British came to India with the original aim of trade and commerce, not with the  intention of becoming the king of this land. With the passage of time the perspective changed and after the Battle of Plassey in 1757  the British virtually became the master of Bengal and decided to rule the country. To achieve the desired place the British started their  designed activities which may be stated in Kipling's word : "And he sent his armies forth / South and North / Till the country from Peshawur to Ceylon / Was his own".  Ultimately, the British became the king of India and it necessitated a large number of English knowing Indians to serve their reign. Consequently, there emerged a special class of people called 'Baboo' who  learnt to speak in broken English, who were "Indian in blood and colour but English in taste and opinion". Day by day the British English gained importance and became popular as well as imperative in educational field. One day the British left India but English language sustained its place and became a  language in the 'Three language formula' proposed for educational, legal, administrative and media purposes. Though the Indians speak in British English, there are some difference between Indian English and Standard British English in respect of phonology, vocabulary and in syntax. 

In the field of pronunciation the difference between Indian English and standard British English is more prominent. Indian English tends to the syllable-time where all syllables are pronounced with equal emphasis. Stress is not used properly and it is used for semantic emphasis. Some differences are clear with regard to both the consonant sound and vowel sound. In Indian English / r / is pronounced in all positions.  Originally, in the words like ‘are’ and ‘after’, the final / r / should  be silent, and their phonemic transcription would be like / ɑː /  and  / ɑːftə  /  respectively.  The Indian English speakers confuse in the pronunciation of / s / and / ʃ / and / ʤ / and / z /. Besides, / f / and / v / are wrongly pronounced as bilabial not as labio dental where  'lower lip' and 'upper teeth', serve as  articulators. Unlike the British, the Indian speakers replace some dipthongs with similar and nearest monopthongs. So, in Indian English 'get' and 'gate' are pronounced in the same way, originally in British English the pronunciation would be / get / and / geit / respectively. 

'Flower-bed' and 'separate-eating' are the products of Indian English and in these types of words we find unusual collocation and uncommon hybridism which are not treated as decent in British English.  Strange things happen here, Sometimes the order of words are changed. For example ' an address of welcome ' is changed into 'welcome -address' and 'the strength of class'  into 'roll-strength'. There are some English hybrids and nominal compounds like 'lathi-charge', 'bidi-smoking' etc which are typically Indian. Some words like 'goondaism', 'policwola' etc  are made from affixation and these are not British English, these are of Indian origin.

Brevity is the main feature of English Language, but Indian English does not value it. Indian English, deviating the norms of brevity, has a tendency to use complex noun , verb phrases and long sentences. Unlike British English, it makes the structure complex and does not maintain the masculine nature of British English. In Indian English the introduction of any topic is large and digression is more in the narration and naturally the language becomes cumbersome and tedious. For all these the Indian English can not preserve the dignity and sweetness like the British English.

Like pronunciation 'the grammar' is a vast field where we find many points of difference between Indian and British English. Many state verbs are used in progressive by Indian speakers and naturally they say “I am feeling cold” instead of its correct form “I feel cold.”  The reason behind it may be that in most Indian languages these verbs can be used in the progressive. Arbitrary use of articles is found in Indian English. Sometimes Indians say "he sells different different things" or "give them one one piece". So the matter of duplication of words for the sake of emphasis is found in Indian English and it can not be accepted in British English. In case of interrogative sentences and tag questions Indian English is much liberal  where the British English follow strictness. Naturally  we find the following sentences in Indian English: "What you would like to eat ?" (interrogative sentence) and  "He will go, isn't it ?" (tag question).

To conclude, the Indians speak  what is  the British English, but they speak in their own way and sometimes they use the style of their mother tongue in time of pronunciation of English. For this mother tongue style the Indian English is spoken in different ways at different ethnic levels.  For the sake of accuracy the difference between Indian English and standard British English may be at least reduced but can never be removed. Indian English will remain with its own features,  accurate use of British accent by the Indian speakers of  English is next to impossible.

Character sketch of Urmi, the protagonist of Shashi Deshpande’s “The Binding Vine”.

“ My characters are all human beings one sees in the world around. No supermen”, remarked the author Shashi Deshpande in an interview published in ‘The Sunday Observer’. She culls her characters from the urban middle class of modern India focusing on the women and all her novels have the woman protagonist . The same thing happens in the novel “The Binding Vine” in which the protagonist is Urmila, called Urmi in the novel. Urmi is portrayed as a vivid , practical and remarkable character worthy to mention.

Urmi , a lecturer by profession, is a smart and active woman but not very particular about her appearance. Being the upholder of inner beauty and qualities, this plain looking woman wears such glasses and blouses that do not match with her sarees. She cares little about her look and dress, the equipments of outer beauty and attractive appearance. However,  Urmi’s character may be studied and judged on three different heads : Urmi as a mother, Urmi as a house wife and Urmi as a feminist Social Worker

Urmi as a mother: The novel opens and one immediately discovers an angry common place woman who is thoroughly grief-stricken and  restless. She is Urmi, a bereaved mother who has recently lost her daughter Anu. Urmi keeps on brooding on her daughter Anu with a fantastic psychological idea, with heartrending everlasting pain  and naturally she says, “ This pain is all that’s left to me of Anu, without it, there will be nothing left to me of her; I will lose her entirely.” What an expression of a bereft mother it is !  She keeps engulfing love and  immeasurable affection  for not only departed Anu, but also her living son Kartik. Urmi takes all cares of Kartik perfectly and he has no complaints against his mother. Her daughter’s memory always haunts her and the least mention of Anu by anyone of the family makes her impatient and irritated. Even Vanna’s  words of consolation enrage her because she wants no one’s sympathy. This strong-willed lady wants to endure her grief and pain alone, rather stoically. Poor Urmi  is an ideal mother.

Urmi as a house wife: As a house wife  Urmi is readily acceptable. Though she is grief-stricken, she is not a fretful and nagging woman. In her day to day conduct with other members of the family and  with the outsiders she is not insensitive and unsympathetic. Urmi maintains a balanced familial relationship with Kishor and Vanna , she treats her brother Amrut with all tenderness and with her mother-in-law Akka she has no problem. As a housewife Urmi is not submissive like Mira and Vanna and marriage never proves to be a trap to her. She likes independence and always tries to preserve it. This free  and frank woman welcomes the friendship of Dr. Bhaskar for the  warmth and closeness in his behaviour. Being bored for quietness and remoteness of her husband  Urmi finds an ideal companion in Dr. Bhaskar which society may not approve. Her mother does not like   this extrovertness, but Urmi does not like to live like a cloistered  nun just because she is housewife. In spite of all these Urmi’s love for Kishor remains intact and she never proved to be unfaithful in the relationship with her husband. As house wife, though Urmi crosses the boundary of  conventionalism, can not be blamed for the deviation of social code of conduct.     

Urmi as a feminist Social Worker: Feminism is like a crusade in the so called male dominated societies. The feminists have  the legitimate demand that a woman must have right to her mind and body, she must have freedom to choose the way of her life. Urmi is a dauntless soldier in this battlefield. She dislikes the patriarchal society, she abhors the male domination in the wrong way. According to her marriage, the age old honourable institution, should not be a trap in which the womenfolk loses all their honour. Urmi wages a battle to establish the equality for woman. To her woman is not merely an asset of her husband, not merely a thing to fulfil their lust, but to be loved , to make a suitable partner , the better half of life. For this mind she grieves for  Mira’s suppressed conjugal life which finds expression in her poems exposed after her death. Urmi wants to publish these poems. Beyond the boundary Urmi has much sympathy for the helpless mother of lower class Shakutai whose problem she hears empathetically. She keeps constant touch with Shakutai and fights for justice for the rape of her daughter Kalpana. In this cause Urmi is desperate and  dauntless and cares little to the opinion of the members of her families and public in general. She compels the reluctant administration to enquire the rape case of Kalpana, to detect the criminal and to extent the justice to Kalpana,  the helpless victims of wolf like male  persons throughout the world. As a  feminist social worker Urmi is well established. Appreciation goes to Urmi as R.S.Pathak observes, “Deshpande’s woman characters have a strength of their own, and in spite of challenges and hostilities, remain uncrushed”

Ref: IGNOU Study Guide

Theme of love and marriage in Shashi Deshpande’s novel “The Binding Vine”

A few words about the Author:

Shashi Deshpande , an Indian English woman novelist, was born and brought up in Dharwar in Karnataka. Being the daughter of a famous Kannada writer and a Sanskrit scholar she developed a natural love for reading and writing. A Ph.D in English (literature), Mrs. Deshpande, also got her degrees in Economics , Law and Journalism. Though she started her writing  quite late, she became a novelist of repute with her novels entitled ‘The Binding Vine’, ‘Roots and Shadows’,’ The Dark Holds No Terrors’, ‘If I Die Today’, ‘Come up and Be Dead’, ‘That Long Silence’ ( for this novel she was awarded the Sahitya  Akademi award in 1993), ‘A Matter of Time’, ‘Small Remedies’ and ‘Moving On’ and her short story collections with the titles ‘The Legacy’, ‘It was the Nightingale’, ‘It was Dark’ and ‘The Miracle’. The main feature of this novelist is that all her novels have the woman protagonist. Shashi Deshpande has mainly written about the regional culture (Maharashtra and Karnataka) which she knew the best.

Theme of love and marriage : Theme is an important element of a novel as theme helps in developing the plot and the valuable messages are hidden in it. A standard novel is generally developed on  the themes  more than one and this novel of Shashi Deshpande   “The Binding Vine” is not the exception of it. Several themes are explicit in this novel and these are : 

(a) Theme of male domination or patriarchal power 

(b) Theme of woman’s position and their  voice   

(c) Theme of love and marriage 

(d) Theme of human relationship 

(e)Theme of justice 

(f) Theme of social code of conduct  etc.           

The theme love and marriage is perhaps more pervading throughout the novel.

Our society is divided into three stratum- Higher aristocratic class, Middle class and Lower class families and the matter of love and marriage is not identical in these three different levels. In this novel the plot, action and characters are related to the Middle class family and the Lower class family, the Aristocratic class being absent. In these two echelons the theme of love and marriage is manifested in different ways. Love may have different classification like emotive  and impassioned love, sadistic love, perverted love and commercial love, again marriage may be social or arranged marriage, love marriage and accidental marriage. In all the different categories love  and marriage gain different  shape, meaning and dignity. 

In “The Binding Vine”  the theme of love and marriage may be examined  and discussed with the help of the lives of the married couples like Mira-Akka and their husband, Urmi and Kishor, Inni and Urmi’s father, Vanna and Harish, Shakutai and her husband and Sulu and Prabhakar. The first four couples belong to middle class family whereas the last two are from lower class. In these two different echelons  both love and marriage project different meanings and values, but in all cases love remains unfulfilled and marriage proves meaningless in the true sense of the term. Let us through some light in the inner sanctum of love and marriage of the above mentioned couples.

Mira and Akka  are mothers-in-law of the protagonist Urmi. Mira was considered fortunate enough when she was married to ,though without taking her opinion, a young man of a middle class family. Hers was a loving husband who showed obsessive love which proved torture to Mira. His love was too demanding, oppressive in a sense, and naturally Mira was afraid of her husband’s advance. True love for a wife was never cultivated by Mira’s husband to whom love was a sort of physical gratification achieved through the social institution  popularly named Marriage. Mira had no will of her own, no freedom to say ‘No’ that reduced her to a resented unhappy wife. She untimely demised in time of child birth, the birth of Kishor. Akka Was educated and a teacher but she reached at 22, the past marriageable age of that time, and so she came as second wife, not as a bride but as a mother, mother of Kishor, to take care of this little child. It was definitely a marriage, but Akka was unfulfilled as she got neither  love nor freedom from her husband. The conjugal life of Mira and Akka prove that the better half is exploited and wronged in the name of love and marriage.

The story of Urmi  and Kishor is different as they are apparently a good couple. Urmi, unlike Mira and Akka, enjoyed  unlimited freedom for which Kishor never questioned. Kishor was caring and tender to her but he was very quiet by nature which Urmi disliked. In her words : “Kishor will never remove his armour, there is something in him I will never reach.” Urmi had to accept Kishor;  the marriage was normal, the love between them was not pretentious, yet there was an undercurrent of an inscrutable feeling in them. For the coldness of Kishor Urmi was attracted to the closeness of Dr. Bhaskar bur she never proved to be unfaithful to her husband. 

The traditional and  age old  concept of marriage in our society is that the wife would be submissive and the husband is a dominating figure. The wife will always remains passive in taking any decision, passive recipient of husband’s love and active worker in in-law’s house. The perfect examples of it are Inni, Urmi”s mother and Vanna.  Both Vanna and Inni do never assert themselves. They are, as if, dragging love to make the marriage meaningful. Sense of equality, sense of dignity for womenfolk were totally absent in the life of Vanna and Inni which Urmi disliked most. These pictures of love and marriage of middle class families are reflected in ‘ The Binding Vines.’

In the lower stratum of society , in Shakutai and Sulu’s family, love and marriage have a different connotation. Shakutai’s husband left her with three children and lived with another woman. Sulu’s husband Prabhakar only lives with Sulu but his mind is full of bad and pernicious intention . He is attracted to his sister-in-law’s daughter  Kalpana and wants to marry her, to fulfil his lust, not to show love.  The term Love has lost its finer sense and original meaning in the lower class people as love and lust are synonymous to them.  Marriage to them is a social process by which the male members get the licence of procreation and the female members gain a person as security. Both love and marriage may be crumbled up by the male members of the lower echelon of society.

The scrutiny of the lives of the  married couples in‘ The Binding Vines.’ makes it clear that love is an illusion, it is like a mirage; it is very near to be caught but not easy to catch. Love  may be established through marriage but no marriage, either it arranged marriage or love marriage,  can guarantee it. Whatever it may be, so long this world be peopled, love and marriage would be heard, would be seen and would be enjoyed in every stratum of society  in their own shape, style and meaning.  

Ref: IGNOU Study Material.  

Gitanjali (Song Offerings) Poem No. 50 ( I had gone a begging....) : summery and analytical study of the poem.

Poem No 50

I HAD GONE a-begging from door to door in the village path, when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream and I wondered who was this King-of all kings!

My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and I stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth scattered on all sides in the dust.

The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glance fell on me and thou camest down with a smile. I felt that the luck of my life had come at last Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right hand and say 'What hast thou to give to me?'

Ah, what a kingly jest was it to open thy palm to a beggar to beg! I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to thee.

But how great my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little grain of gold among the poor heap. I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give thee my all.

 “ I read Rabindranath every day, to read one line of  his is to forget all the troubles of the world.” No exaggeration is there in this comment of a Rabindra-lover. All the 103 verses of ‘Song Offerings’ are enchanting , edifying and soul inspiring. Poem number 50 is the prose translation of the Bengali poem entitled ‘‘Kripan” (Miser) included if the collection of poems named “Kheya” written by the Nobel Laureate Ranindrnath Tagore, the pride of Bengal.

Summary of the poem : One day the beggar-poet was wandering from door to door in a village path  collecting alms as usual. All of a sudden, a golden chariot came to his view at some distance like a ‘gorgeous dream’ and the mendicant wondered that ‘King of all kings’ must be inside the chariot.  Culmination of the beggar’s hope was quite natural and he thought that his evil days, the days of penury  and uncertainty, must end from that moment. He stood waiting for charity that would be given to him  unasked and also expected that such an opulent person must scatter wealth on all sides of the path for the have-nots.

The golden chariot stopped before the mendicant. With a captivating glance and fascinating smile the owner of the chariot got down with pleasant steps and approached to the beggar-poet who started thinking that it was the last moment of catching good luck. At such ecstatic moment the royal owner held out his right hand to the beggar saying “What hast thou to give to me?” The beggar-poet thought that  It was nothing but a ‘kingly jest’ ; otherwise, the royal owner could not beg from a beggar. The beggar was at a loss and stood still doing nothing for a few moments but he had to respond. unenthusiastically the beggar took a little grain of corn from his wallet and handed it to the royal beggar. Thus ended the uneventful day in an ironic way.

At the day’s end a great surprise was waiting for the beggar-poet. When he emptied his wallet  on the floor to measure the day’s collection, he became flabbergasted as a ‘grain of gold’ was sparkling in his poor collection. He realized that the ‘grain of corn’ returned as the ‘grain of gold’ in his alms. The mendicant wept bitterly and then wished that he should  have had a mind to give his all to the royal beggar.

Analytical Study Of the poem : The poem No. 50 of Gitanjali is an allegorical poem which contains a surprising story of a beggar  told in an interesting way. It is not merely the story of an unknown beggar, it is the story of every man who has to face the puzzling situation in life like the beggar-poet of this poem. The beggar symbolizes human being  who is miserly by nature. The miser man only wants and wants, he is not ready to give anything. If the occasion compels him to give anything, he gives the least little part of his wealth  reluctantly. Sometimes man has to undergo some ordeal or acid test which he can not realize. God, our supreme father, sometimes appears in earthly shape to test us, to test our humane properties. Human beings, the source of all supreme values, the mine of all sublime qualities, are gradually corrupted in this world with many a subhuman nature, the seven deadly sins of this world. Naturally, in almost all cases man fails to go through the divine trial. For his selfish and covetous nature, man loses heavenly gift and the grace of God. God’s revelation is not uncommon and we have to confront God’s test any time unexpectedly like the beggar of this poem.

The king of all kings, God  himself,  is a  universal and eternal giver. He gives us everything to make our life happy, comfortable and meaningful. Sometimes God suddenly seeks something from man. Being the owner of all wealth of this world God demands no wealth or money from us. What he seeks from us are love and devotion, our total surrender to him. When we offer anything  to God earnestly, God makes no late to return it making thousandfold like the grain of little gold in the poor collection of the mendicant. If we show our close-fisted nature to God, if we deal with him in material value,  if we lack spirituality, we have to weep bitterly like the beggar-poet. In this poem, we find the story of a beggar and  the  story of  mankind behind it. There is an apparent meaning and other  deep meaning is found beneath the literal one.  For this feature this is obviously an allegorical poem.

Deep philosophical meaning of this poem can not be ruled out. One day’s incident of the beggar’s life may be equated to the purport of the whole life of a man. The beggar’s experience cautions us so that we can lead our life scrupulously and judiciously. We have to pay for everything in our life, we can not avoid ‘Karma’. Like the beggar’s day, man starts his life quite normally. Uncertainty, confusion, indecision, bewilderment, amazement and other deciding factors come before a man. Like the beggar man has to take many decisions in his life. If man becomes confused and stands undecided like the helpless beggar at the ultimate moment and makes some blunder, he has to weep in his old days, no second chance for rectification and amendment comes in this life. In C.G.Rossetti’s word “Of labour you shall find the sum.” (Uphill). One is rewarded in life as per one’s activities.  This philosophy of human life is soaked with religious values and ideas. So, this is a religious poem also.

 This poem is full of ethical values and the subject matter is like an anecdote. Beside allegorical aspect one does not miss some metaphorical sides of this poem. Climax and anti-climax are present  in the narration. The poem is spoken in first person ‘I’ in a prose narrative style. There is no rhyme and no rhyme scheme but poetic rhythm is there to give it a verse level.    

  

 

 

 

Francis Bacon's Essay "Of Discourse" : A Complete Paraphrase.

“Of Discourse”, an aphoristic essay of  the famous essayist Francis Bacon, was first published in 1597. The grave subject matter , unique style and universal values of this essay has given him a high place in the world literature. 

 

Paraphrase of the Essay:

 

Literally ‘Discourse’ means speech, lecture, discussion or conversation , here it means 'speech' as a courtly accomplishment. In his essay ‘Of  Discourse’ Bacon has given us some important advices regarding effective discussion. It is seen that some people, in time of discourse, desire praise of the skill and style of saying instead of intellectual efficiency and the final evaluation, as they can control and sustain all arguments. They demand  praise of what is said, not of what is thought, caring little of judgement, the truth in the discourse. In a word, ‘Manner’ (style of saying)  is more important to them than ‘Matter’ (theme of saying) It is seen that, in time of discourse, some concentrate on the  common place subject matter. This ordinary matter may thematically be good, but want variety which is a kind of weakness (Poverty). For this lacking of variety, the discourse  becomes monotonous, tiresome and ultimately ridiculous. So variety is an essential element in  good discourse.

 

The most worthy part of a discourse  is  to open the situation with the help of conversation, to regulate it and to move to some other means like speech or discussion. It will continue the discourse which would attract and draw others. In discourse (sustained speech) and in conversation (quick exchange of words) it is very good  to make proper changes (vary) and to intermingle up various matters of present interest and that of permanent interest (argument). An able talker should  follow some rules. Theories should be mingled with anecdotes, some questions regarding their opinion should be asked. There must have some jest in the earnest thought. Without jest a  discourse becomes dull that tires a person. Continuous speaking is like the overdrive, a long distance. Though conversation should be spiced with jest some matter must be exempted from it and these  are religion, matter of state, great persons, urgent important business and pitiful matters.

 

There are some talkers who go with the wrong idea that they would not be taken as witty and efficient if they fail to taunt others and fail to make hurtful remarks in time of discourse. Bacon advises us to control this habit (vein). Now he advises us to follow Ovid's remark: "Spare the spur, boy, and use the rein more strongly." It means that the discourse can be encouraged to any extent, but there must have some control over it to avoid defame and danger. Any person can make difference between salty or pleasant talks (saltness) and bitter or taunting talk (bitterness). Some persons have the habit to make a satirical attacks and they make such an atmosphere that other persons are afraid of their knowledge. They must remember other person's memory, that means everything  is in other's mind as grudges that increases day by day and one day it will be hurled to the former.

 

Discourse  is the source of gathering knowledge. One who makes much questions, learns much and becomes content. Benefit is gathered when the question is up to the knowledge and skill of other persons. If the other person can answer, he would speak more and the discourser would gather more knowledge. The question should not be tough like that of an examiner. Every person involved  in discourse should be given chance to speak. If one speaks too much and takes all the time, the person should be stopped and other persons should be given chances to speak. If one subject is discussed continually, the discourser should introduce other subject, the former being stopped. Monopolizing conversation is not effective and it is compared to the galliards (a type of lively dance) where the musician changes the group and brings the new one.

 

If any person wants to disclaim his knowledge, his genuine pleas of  ignorance would be regarded as modesty. There may be some situation where he does not really have knowledge, but the other person would believe that the former disclaims the  matter. Speech of oneself should be seldom and well chosen. Self-propaganda is discouraged by Bacon.  His advice is that one must be very wise if one speaks much of oneself. If a  person wants to praise himself he should do that with good grace and he should praise the virtue in others first, then his own, particularly when the virtue is pretended to be possessed. 

 

Any speech of personal matter that  touches others, hurts others, should be used judiciously. Discourse should be like a field - open to all sides. It means that discourse should be free and varied that would cover manifold subject and the discourse would be continued without  any obstructions. Discourse should have no fixed destination. This time Bacon has given an anecdote about the discourse during dining related to two  Noblemen of  England. One of them used to sneer or taunt,  but always retained a congenial and cheerful atmosphere in his house. The other Nobleman was very inquisitive about the taunting of the first Nobleman. He asked those who dined with the first Nobleman if there was any blow or flout or taunting during the dinner. The guests  would answer that there was such and such talking. The second Nobleman commented that the first Nobleman used to mar the dinner by scoffing others. Bacon wants  to say that harsh comment and taunting during meal brings about bad effect on digestion.

 

Towards the end of the essay Bacon says that agreeable speech is more important  than the speech given with eloquence, given with good words  in good order. A good long and continued speech (settled speech) without quick exchange of words (interlocution) indicates the dullness of the discourse. On the other hand, only quick reply without settled speech (a speech that takes time) exposes ignorance and intellectual infirmity. Here Bacon has given an analogy of grey hound and hare. A hare is quick in movement (nimblest) but weak in the straight run a long distance and the greyhound is the opposite. Similar in the way, a good continued speech  is slow but rich in subject matter, and  a conversation with quick exchange of words is weak in subject matter. Much digression (circumstances) before arriving the main topic makes the discourse tedious and a subject without any digression makes it very uninteresting, a dull one.

 

 

 

Ref : University Study Guide.

 

 

Francis Bacon’s Essay “ Of Studies ” : A complete Paraphrase.

“OfStudies”, an aphoristic essay of  the famous essayist Francis Bacon, was first published in 1597. The grave subject matter , unique style and universal values of this essay has given him a high place in the world literature.       

 

Paraphrase of the Essay:

 Study fills the reader with a sort of aesthetic ‘delight’, endless pleasure. It gives us ‘ornament’ that means an elegant  mode of speaking. It also helps us to acquire experience and wisdom with the help of which we can combat the crisis and adversity of life. This quality is called ‘ability’. So, study serves three purposes : pleasing the readers (delight), enabling the readers to have command over language (ornament) and endowing the readers with practical wisdom (ability). When a man is alone (privateness) and in a state of leisure (retiring), he needs the company of books that makes his forlornness enjoyable. A well studied person is able to speak fluently, logically and in attractive manner and by dint of which he can easily impress others.

One who reads copiously can develop the power of  judgement, can understand what is right and what is wrong and with this quality he can discharge his duties properly.  An expert man can only execute . He only follows the blue-prints and gives it a material shape. But a learned man or well-studied person is full of resourcefulness, he has the power of invention , he gives direction, makes planning and says the proper sequence of work. For example, the mason may be an expert man and the engineer will be learned one whose plans and directions are executed by the mason. 

Over reading is not encouraged because it creates a sort of idleness and prevents the reader's mind from thinking independently. Be a book lover, not a book-worm. When one uses rhetoric much, the matter of deception comes. Some persons makes their judgement strictly according to the rules laid down in books. They are a sort of slaves to a 'set of rules'. In the case of scholar it is humour. 

Man has some natural abilities like thinking, feeling, imagination etc. which can be polished, modified, enhanced and improved only by studies, added with experience. If a plant it is not trimmed by the gardener, it grows without any pattern  and looks inattractive. Similarly study gives order to our natural knowledge and makes it more relevant as well as useful. Only study is not sufficient. Experience is necessary as it guides our knowledge and it helps us to be practical and to make the study useful. 

Bacon refers to three categories of people: crafty man, simple man and wise man. Crafty man, being full of cunningness, shows no respect to study. They are gifted with much common sense by exploiting of which they easily achieve the material success in life. So, study is mere  waste of time to them. Simple men, who have practically no access to academic exercises are charmed and interested to studies and they admire it. Only wise men know how to utilize study and enrich their minds. Study gives knowledge but can not teach the reader how to utilize that knowledge in the practical field of life. Here Bacon lays stress on observation. A true reader should be a keen observer of the matters of life. Observation adds to his experience which helps him to make use the book-based knowledge. So, reading alone is not sufficient, it should  be augmented by observations.

 Many persons have the idea that reading book is for contradicting and that is a credit to them.  Bacon condemns it much. Some persons read and believe everything what is written in book without weighing the validity of the ideas expressed by the author. They should develop some faculty of scanning and the  illogical portions written in study materials should he rejected by them. The true objective of study is to weigh and consider.

 Bacon says that all books are not identical or of same quality. Some books are of little substance and some are of great value. For this various standard, various method of reading are established. Some books are to be read in parts, some without curiosity and some, very few in number, with diligence and attention. For example, a magazine is read lightly, only tasted; a railway time table is read in parts, the notes for the examination are swallowed and topics like Freedom, Paradise Lost etc. are duly chewed and digested, that is, they are read with rapt attention. Some books are read with the help of deputy and assistants who make the summary of the books. This summarized version of the original text is said the distilled book by Bacon and such book is insipid or tasteless like distilled water. This is not healthy for mind also. 

Reading makes a full man that does not mean a complete man or total man. Full man means a man full of book based knowledge. Conference contributes to readiness and presence of mind. Exactness can be achieved by continuous writing. So, the three things - deep knowledge, ready wit and exactness jointly result in the perfection of one's mind and personality. Then a complete man is born. Some relaxations are given by Bacon. One may do well without 'conference' if one is innately endowed with extra-ordinary  presence of mind. Writing very little, one may do well if one is with exceptionally great memory. Cunningness is essential for a man who reads little and this enables a man to manage the situations like a learned one, though the former conceals his less-studies and little-learning. 

Towards the end of the essay Bacon deals with the utility of the study of different subjects. History enriches our mind with knowledge of past. Poetry, making us imaginative, makes us witty. Mathematics adds to our subtlety and exactness. Natural philosophy like physics, chemistry, metaphysics etc. provides us with depth. Moral science makes us grave, serious minded and sober. Logic and rhetoric makes us expert and impressive speaker. 

To make the utility of study clear Bacon has given a Latin proverb : "abeunt  studia in mores". When translated into English it means ‘studies pass into character’. In other words, studies mould a character or the character of a man is determined by what he reads. Studies generally give a man solidity, power of endurance and courage to confront. So, obstacles are no more obstacles to a  well-studied or learned man. 

Studies have some healing properties and it can serve as remedies to some defects of mind. For example, a wandering mind can be made calm with the help of mathematics. Study of ‘Schoolmen’, the hair-splitter philosopher of middle- age, can cure the mind which lacks distinguishing power. The demonstration of anything makes one attentive step by step. When the memory does not operate well, we must study law books which teach us to call up the old cases and establish the desired  conclusion. So, for every defect of mind there must have a proper remedy or recipe and that comes from profound and profuse study. 

 

Reference : 

University Study Guide